Enhancing Online Education through Instructor Skill Development in Higher Education (original) (raw)

Thirty-Two Trends Affecting Distance Education: An Informed Foundation for Strategic Planning

Online Journal of Distance …, 2003

Recent issues in this journal and other prominent distance-learning journals have established the need for administrators to be informed and prepared with strategic plans equal to foreseeable challenges. This article provides decision makers with 32 trends that affect distance learning and thus enable them to plan accordingly. The trends are organized into categories as they pertain to students and enrollment, faculty members, academics, technology, the economy, and distance learning. All the trends were identified during an extensive review of current literature in the field

Improving the Development and Implementation of Online Courses: A Student’s Perspective

Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) 2017 Proceedings, 2017

As distance education continues to be utilized by higher learning institutions, many struggle in knowing how to effectively utilize tools for the benefit of the students, faculty and staff facilitating online courses, distance education departments, and the university as a whole. This paper will highlight survey and interview results from students, professors, and instructional technologists from four public southeastern United States universities centered on how online learning affects the varying levels of a specific university located in the southeastern United States. Current and future issues that and potential solutions to counteract these obstacles will also be provided. Moreover, strategies will be proposed regarding improving the institutional effectiveness of distance education by specifically tailoring approaches to the culture and the strategic direction of the institution. In order to provide a first-person narrative from a student’s perspective, these results and recommendations are discussed through the lens of an undergraduate student.

The Role of Distance Education Instructor: Attitudes, Skills, and Strategies

Tella, S. (ed.) Aspects of Media Education: Strategic Imperatives in the Information Age. Media Education Centre. Department of Teacher Education. University of Helsinki. Media Education Publications 8, 291–305., 1998

The role of the faculty member in a distance education setting is an area which has been largely ignored in the past. This must be examined and clarified if the creation of a successful learning environment is the goal. Distance education (DE) -- as well as distance teaching (DT) and distance learning (DL) -- requires new skills and attitudes different from those required in a "traditional" classroom. Since many educators are unfamiliar with this innovative educational setting, training on both the technical aspects of the system and the strategies for teaching students at a distance would benefit both teachers and students.

Factors that influence community college faculty participation in distance education" /

2002

The purpose of this study was to determine what factors motivated community college faculty to participate in distance education. It examined the following factors from the perspective of faculty and division chairs: (1) preference toward synchronous and asynchronous course delivery; (2) rewards for distance education faculty; (3) rewards for faculty who participate in distance education training; (4) faculty rewards for developing distance education courses; (5) areas best complemented by distance education: teaching, research, or services; (6) factors that motivate faculty to participate in distance education; (7) factors that inhibit faculty from participating in distance education; and (8) attitudes toward distance education. The National Center for Educational Statistics reports that as of 1998, 34% of colleges and universities across the United States offered distance education programs. The continued growth of distance education programs is evidence that learning is no longer a linear exercise, the demand for lifelong learning will continue, and the growth of the Internet has expanded access to education. Based upon 180 responses (out of a sample of 587) from division chairs, distance faculty, and classroom faculty, the author found that faculty expressed concerns about the lack of rewards for teaching distance education, plagiarism and cheating, and how well distance education would benefit students. The author recommends establishing standards for distance education. Contains 20 tables, 109 references, and research instruments.

Program Planning Model: A Theoretical Guide for Designing Online Distance Education Courses

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2018

Planning a university-based distance education was once considered a marginalized practice in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, many changes have since taken place in HEIs, not only from procedural and technological aspects, but also involving structural and cultural systemic changes in the existing organizational and educational practices. Universities are now expected to deliver courses not only in traditional face-to-face format, but to also inculcate various forms of distance and flexible learning as part of their course delivery to the students. Understanding context is an important aspect in program planning. By assessing the current context of distance education practice in higher education, this paper seeks to propose a program planning model as a theoretical guide for supporting the development of a successful learning design for distance learners, particularly for undergraduate courses. The first part of this paper discussed a selected program planning model from the adult education literature. The second part of this paper elaborates each of the planning component as supported the distance education literature. This paper concludes with a proposed skeletal model, specifically for designing online courses at the end.